Don’t give up on those chest supported T-bar rows yet! I don’t know what your machine looks like, but I don’t use any more weight than that either. Most of those put the weight out past your hands, so you are generating more force than the weight on the machine. When doing these I like to set it up so the pad ends about where my nipples are and then I have to keep my upper-back arched the whole time while rowing.
It really works well and I think gives you the best bang for the time spent on these as it really hits the upper-back hard. I also really like to do them against a doubled mini band. Nothing says stay tight like the squeeze you will have to put on your upper-back to do a full rep this way.
My grip failed on the 5th rep…never had grip issues before…had a few more reps in the tank if I could have held onto it…didn’t use chalk…was a bit discouraged so I just got out of the gym and binged on oreos and milk like a fat chick…
14.1 - 6/11/11
OHP (3x5): 155, 175, 195 (5)
Lat Pulldowns (3x8): who knows
Keg Press: 150, 180, 200, 240x0, 240x0, 240x0, 240x0
Conditioning: Truck Pull for 40 yards and push back x 1
So this session was down at Brute Strength Gym in Norfolk where my little lady lives now…she is training there and I’m pretty fucking jealous, but it will be cool to go down and visit and train there when i get the chance…definitely the best gym on the east coast…
Forgot to check out what my weight scheme looked like before going to the gym so I winged it…ended up overshooting it by about 20 poudns each set…oops…just got the minimum reps to stay fresh for the Strongman stuff…it was a lot of fun…this was my first time with the kegs and the first few were real easy, but I just couldn’t get the 240 up…everybody thought I was strong enough just my technique was terrible…i’ve never been a good push presser so if I can’t snatch it up, its hard for me to get it going…I had it resting on my face for about 30 seconds and made a couple attempts, but just couldn’t get it up (huh huh huh)…then finished off the day with a truck pull/push for one trip…didn’t have much more time than that…
Squat went a little better than last cycle at the same weight…got it for 6 reps instead of 5, with another one in the tank…but still far below what I was…
Leg Press and BSFO’s were supersetted…
Not a bad training session…not great, just not bad…
Warmups felt heavy and just couldn’t get it going tonight…got it for 8 with maybe 1 or 2 left in the tank, but this is a couple reps less than my PR in April where I got it for 10…
Pullups and Bench warmups and first couple working sets were supersets…
Got out of the gym after that…just wasn’t feeling it…
Training has been piss poor over the past couple of weeks…I’m feeling beat up between sessions even with a couple days rest, my strength is down, and my motivation to train is in the shitter…I realise this is almost 100% due to my post-surgery complications and hormone issues, which I should be getting straightened out in the next couple weeks, but this is just taking a toll on me physically and mentally…its really fucking frustrating to go into the gym and get nowhere near the levels you were at just a couple of months ago…this is the first downswing I’ve experienced in my weight training career, and it is a huge pain in the ass…
I’ve decided for the next couple of weeks until I get things straightened out, I will be following the IM NOT DOING JACK SHIT template…meaning I’m going to go into the gym 4 days a week, hit my main lift for as many reps as I can, and get out…no accessory work unless I am just feeling stellar that day and feel like doing some extra stuff…will also be doing a bit more recovery work (stretching, foam rolling, massage) that I have been neglecting for a long time now…basically just do what I can and make sure I’m getting the main stuff in and building around it…
hopefully this will give me a sense of focus and snap me out of the training funk I’ve been in and in a month or so I’ll be ready to hit it hard again…
Have you considered adding DE work to your repetoire? I think I am getting a lot of mileage out of it and it seems to help me recover as well as increase my work capacity. It could help that squat start back north.
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Have you considered adding DE work to your repetoire? I think I am getting a lot of mileage out of it and it seems to help me recover as well as increase my work capacity. It could help that squat start back north.[/quote]
Yeah I’ve considered a whole lot of things mate haha…I don’t want to make any drastic changes right now though because I’m about 100% sure my issues aren’t training related, ya know? I’m just trying to keep my head above water training wise until I can get that shit straightened out, then I should be back good to go…
Although with the progress you’ve made lately, I should probably consider some DE stuff! Beast mode
Truthfully I’m too lazy to go buy a bunch of bands and shit…plus the idea of benching against bands gives me a bit of queasiness in my stomach…that shit is brutal…
Truck pullin’ vid from last Saturday…I kept trying to stand up because all my life, i’ve always been taught to sprint by starting low and gradually coming up with your chest…well that shit don’t work for truck pullin!
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Have you considered adding DE work to your repetoire? I think I am getting a lot of mileage out of it and it seems to help me recover as well as increase my work capacity. It could help that squat start back north.[/quote]
Yeah I’ve considered a whole lot of things mate haha…I don’t want to make any drastic changes right now though because I’m about 100% sure my issues aren’t training related, ya know? I’m just trying to keep my head above water training wise until I can get that shit straightened out, then I should be back good to go…
Although with the progress you’ve made lately, I should probably consider some DE stuff! Beast mode
Truthfully I’m too lazy to go buy a bunch of bands and shit…plus the idea of benching against bands gives me a bit of queasiness in my stomach…that shit is brutal…[/quote]
Yeah, I figured the lifting issues were from the cancer primarily. Just thought I’d share some enthusiasm. Benching against bands does take some getting used to.
Skipped OHP during this wave because I went to family reunion over the weekend…good times!
14.3 - 6/20/11
Squat (531): negative
So I am now officially a weak bitch…Squat was supposed to be 340x5, 385x3, 430x1+. I started with Bar x 3 warming up and by the time I was at 315 I could barely unrack it…it felt like 500 pounds on my back…I didn’t even take it down, just reracked it and left the gym…
I got a bunch of chiropractor stuff done to my back earlier in the day, which probably didn’t help things, but to not even be able to warmup and start the working sets is completely unsat…I don’t know where I’m going to go from here, but a change will be coming…stay tuned…
Got my doctor’s visit on Friday for the follow-up treatment. Expecting good things to follow.
Squat (3x5): 185, 225, 275
Bench (3x5): 135, 165, 195
Pullup (6x5): Body
Leg Curl (3x12): 90, 100, 110
Went in and did a light deload workout tonight to get back into it after a couple weeks…squats weren’t easy but weren’t hard, so that’s straight…
Going to do a deload with deadlift and OHP on Friday probably, and hit next cycle next Monday
I am going to reset my training maxes back 3 cycles, so 30 pounds for squat/DL and 15 pounds for bench/OHP…hopefully this will get things going again, and will allow me to restart the diet without impacting my training too bad…
I am going to reset my training maxes back 3 cycles, so 30 pounds for squat/DL and 15 pounds for bench/OHP…hopefully this will get things going again, and will allow me to restart the diet without impacting my training too bad…
[/quote]
I think this is a good plan. I just did it myself and dropped my squat loads back and ending up blowing right past my sticking point. Good luck!
Dixie & Dove: Thanks guys…the chiro stuff is going to help, but I think that my my doctor finally agreeing to TRT after my cancer is going to be the biggest help…I’ve made pretty decent progress over the past year or so with shitty hormone levels–expecting big things now that I have a full tank of gas!
After fucking around for the past month or so with sporadic, half-assed workouts here and there I am ready to do some work…the TRT is finally starting to kick in and I feel tons better…gotta dial everything in a little bit, but that will come in due time…at least I feel like getting back into the gym again…I don’t wish what I was going through on anyone–that shit was brutal!
So after some deliberation, I decided to take a bit of a different turn in my training and follow CT’s High Performance Mass program for the next 6 weeks…may do it longer than that if I like it, but I’m committed to doing at least one full cycle…
Back in December I incorporated some of its principals into my 5-3-1 training and saw good results…basically I was doing upper body work on Monday/Tuesday and lower body work on Thursday/Friday with lats/biceps on Sundays…this is the basic breakdown of HP Mass, but with a lot less volume and with 5-3-1 obviously…but I’m giving the actual program a go now…
Haven’t decided what I’m going to do diet wise…after a week on this program, I’m going to assess whether or not I can actually complete the workouts on a calorie reduced diet and go from there…I may just try to do a slow recomp on my own and save the last 6 weeks I have with Shelby for early spring next year…